Thoughtful Laughter
Amy Tan uses thoughtful laughter in her novel, The Joy Luck Club, to make a point through laughter or humor. Thoughtful laughter is effective because it grabs the attention of the reader and expresses a point, whether the reader knows it or not. One scene that provokes thoughtful laughter is in the chapter “Best Quality” while the family picks crabs to eat. When there was only two crabs left, Jing-Mei Woo tries to choose the crab with the missing leg, so her mom would have the better crab. On page 227 during the meal, Jing-Mei Woo says “That's the way Chinese mothers show they love their children, not through hugs and kisses but the stern offering of steamed dumplings, duck gizzards, and crab.” The Chinese mothers in The Joy Luck Club show affection to their daughters differently through non-obvious manners, such as showing off their daughters or giving their daughters steamed crabs, rather through the American way of hugs and kisses. In the book, The......

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Title: Thoughtful Laughter
Approximate Word Count: 710
Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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